By Mary Jo Springs
The Calhoun County Library is thrilled to once again bn the recipient of new, quality, hardcover children’s books through the Libri Foundation’s BOOKS FOR CHILDREN grant. The Libri Foundation was established in 1989 for the sole purpose of helping rural libraries acquire new, quality, hardcover children's books. This year, Libri Foundation donors Bill Strawbridge, Meg Wallhagen, Hal Berenson, and Laura Ackerman funded the grant. Thanks to them, we have some great new children’s fiction, math and science books. We are thankful to the Friends of the Calhoun County Library for once again providing the seed money for this match grant.
Extra special thanks goes to the Sweatman Consulting Crew (aka, the Sweatman family). They made recommendations as to which titles on the list of possible books would be most beneficial to our library’s readers. As a family, they have read the majority of books in the children’s section, and their assistance was extremely helpful while we were busy getting moved in to the new library.
This fall, in partnership with Mrs. Barton’s CCHS teacher cadet class and other volunteers, there are plans to conduct a Homework Help program here at the library for students in grades two through eight. According to Youth Services Librarian Mary Jo Springs, “The books we received through the Libri Grant will be invaluable to the upcoming homework help program. We were able to buy the newest nonfiction books in areas that need to be updated every five years. Budget-wise, it is difficult to keep math and science books current in this short time span. Students who need to research the latest information will be able to find what they need because of this grant.”
We asked around for reviews of some of these new books and here is what folks had to say:
- Cool Stuff Exploded and Cool Stuff and How It Works – According to the whole Sweatman family, “These are two extraordinary books that explain and illustrate how modern day machines and gadgets work. If you read these books, you will get an amazing, up close tour through some extremely cool technology.”
- Bad News for Outlaws: a story about Bass Reeves by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson – According to Lyssa, it is a fantastic adventure about a courageous man in the Wild West." After reading it, she was enticed to find more books on Bass Reeves.
- Go Figure! A Book about Numbers by Johnny Ball – Ali said, “I used to be afraid of numbers and math, but now I enjoy doing math and working with numbers because this book helped me to understand how numbers work together."
- We Were There, Too! by Phillip Hoose – Brelynn said, “After reading this book my eyes were opened up to a whole new world of history through the pictures and inspiring biographies about how young people of the past impacted America's history."
- What the World Eats by Peter Menzel – Library Director Kristen said, “This book has great pictures and information about what the families typically eat in different parts of the world. I’d never thought about what meals look like in Greenland or Siberia and other places. It’s interesting! But maybe no crunchy fried beetles for me anytime soon…”
If these sound interesting, please come down and check out some of these great books! The Calhoun County Library thanks the Libri Foundation, the Friends, and the Sweatman family for helping us inspire kids to read and learn about the world.
The Friends of the Calhoun County Library are sponsoring a photo contest. The subject is "People and Places of Calhoun County." There are three age categories:
It has been almost amonth that we have been open to the public in the new library. We want to thank everyone for their patience as we have worked out the kinks. We knew it would be busy, but we didn't realize just how busy that would be. In the month of June:
The New Calhoun County Library is OPEN!